LYME/OLD LYME — The report issued Thursday, April 15, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) for the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks shows a marginal improvement for the whole state.
The number of towns in the state in the Red (highest) Zone for two-week new case rates has fallen from 142 last week to 132 this week. Both Lyme and Old Lyme remain in the Zones in which they were last week.
Old Lyme is now one of the 15 towns in the Orange (second highest) Zone remaining in that Zone for the second week in a row.
Lyme is in the Gray Zone for two-week case rates, recording a fifth straight week in the lowest zone. Thirteen towns were in this zone last week and that number has risen to 21 this week. (Four zones are specified by the CT DPH — see details below.)
Overall, the number of towns in each zone is shown below with the previous week’s number in parentheses:
- 21 (13) towns are now in the (lowest case rate) Gray Zone
- 1 (4) are in the (lowest but one) Yellow Zone
- 15 (10) are in the (second highest case rate) Orange Zone.
All the remaining 132 towns are in the Red Zone — last week’s number was 142.
Lyme joins 20 other towns in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone: Ashford, Bozrah, Bridgwater, Canaan, Chester, Colebrook, Cornwall, Franklin, Goshen, Hampton, Hartland, Lisbon, Morris, New Canaan, Norfolk, Scotland, Union, Voluntown, and Warren. Twenty-one towns in the Gray Zone reflects a significant and encouraging increase in the number of towns in that category over last week’s number of 13.
The Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone now has only one town, namely our neighbor, East Lyme.
Old Lyme joins 14 other towns in the Orange (second highest rate) Zone : Essex, Farmington, Hebron, Ledyard, Old Saybrook, Salem, Salisbury, Sharon, Simsbury, Stafford, Stonington, Waterford, Willington and Winchester.
- The Gray category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is less than five or less than five reported cases.
- The Yellow category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between five and nine reported cases.
- The Orange category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between 10 and 14.
- The Red category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town exceeds 15.
In all cases, this rate does not include cases or tests among residents of nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.
This report is issued daily, but only updated weekly on Thursdays. The most recent report was updated Thursday, April 15; the next updated report will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, April 22.
More Detail on Two-Week Case Rates: Lyme Down, OL Constant
On Thursday, April 15, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) also issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District.
Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We are heartened to see a continued decrease in new cases throughout the District, with moderate decreases in the last two reporting periods. Our contact tracers continue to report clusters associated with daycares, schools, and workplaces, and transmissions linked to social gatherings and sporting events.
He stresses, however, “Although we are making great strides with our COVID vaccination program, it is still imperative that we remain diligent in our mitigation strategies.”
The latest two-week case rates announced Thursday, April 15, (from 3/28 to 4/10) have decreased in Lyme and held constant in Old Lyme.
The two-week case rates are as follows:
- Old Lyme from 12.6 to 12.6
- Lyme from 9.2 to 6.1
The same report shows that the case numbers in Week 1 and Week 2 respectively and recorded for the period 3/28 to 4/10 (compared with the previous two-week case rate for 3/14 to 3/27 shown in parentheses) are as follows:
- Lyme had 1 (2) cases in Week 1 and 1 (1) in Week 2
- Old Lyme had 5 (9) cases in Week 1 and 8 (4) in Week 2
This data was updated April 15, 2021. The next Ledge Light Weekly Data Report for its District will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, April 22.
Old Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases
The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Thursday, April 15, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, shows that Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 318 confirmed COVID-19 cases and EIGHT probable cases, making a TOTAL of 326 cases.
This represents NO CHANGE in the cumulative number of confirmed or probable cases compared with those reported the previous day.
The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 5,062, an increase of six over Wednesday’s number of 5,056.
Lyme – Cumulative Cases Up Two
Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 94 confirmed cases and 8 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 102 cases.
This represents INCREASE of TWO in the cumulative number of confirmed cases compared with those reported Wednesday, April 14, and NO CHANGE in the number of probable cases.
The total number of Lyme residents tested is 1,366, an increase of four over Wednesday’s number of 1,365.
Vaccination Rates
At the request of several readers, we have started a new section reflecting the status of community vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme. The data is taken from the COVID-19 Vaccinations by Town report published by CT-DPH, which is published roughly weekly.
Lyme is ahead of Old Lyme in terms of the percentage of its total population that have received a first dose, with 75.09 percent vaccinated compared with 65.78 percent in Old Lyme.
The percentages for both towns for the age segments 65-74 and 75+ are very encouraging with Lyme now having 108.76 percent of seniors 75 and above having received their first dose and 97.61 percent of the same age segment having received it in Old Lyme.
The detailed data below is the most recent and was updated April 15.
Old Lyme
Total population: 7,306
Estimated population age 65-74: 1,067
Estimated population age 75 and above: 794
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Lyme
Total population: 2,316
Estimated population age 65-74: 372
Estimated population age 75 and above: 274
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Three Fatalities in Old Lyme Since Pandemic Began, None in Lyme
According to the report mentioned above, there have now been THREE fatalities in Old Lyme. Asked Tuesday, Feb. 9, for details of this third fatality, Ledge Light Health Department Director of Health Stephen Mansfield responded, “We have not been notified of any recent deaths in Old Lyme. Keep in mind that that report is compiled by the Connecticut Department of Public Health; deaths are not reportable to local health districts.”
He added, “I can’t speak for their data sources.”
The two fatalities from Old Lyme previously reported in 2020 were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.
No fatalities have been reported in Lyme.
Connecticut Hospital Occupancy
At the request of several readers, we have added a new report showing the respective rates of hospital occupancy at local hospitals. The data for this report is obtained from the Connecticut Hospital Occupancy Report published weekly by the CT DPH and extracted from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facility-level data for hospital utilization aggregated on a weekly basis (Friday to Thursday).
The most recent report is dated Feb. 19 and covers the two-week period from 2/12 to 2/18. No subsequent updates have been issued.
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Editor’s Note: The state issues a COVID-19 metric report daily around 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, which includes current data up to the previous evening. In light of the ongoing rise in Coronavirus cases, we publish a new weekday update reporting confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Lyme and Old Lyme.